


Newcomer

by weareunderthesameskies (OliviaNMaestro)



Series: Doctor Who Series 6.5 [1]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Adventure, Gen, Hospital, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-26
Updated: 2013-04-21
Packaged: 2017-12-06 14:02:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/736493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OliviaNMaestro/pseuds/weareunderthesameskies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arriving at Earth, 2012, the Doctor discovers a medical centre, a girl and a "man", who's supposed to be far away, in another galaxy. The Doctor must save the man, to save the Earth. Or what?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Miss Kelly

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first of a series Olivia and Sarah are planning.
> 
> The story will take place during the gap in-between series 6 and series 7. (therefore we call it series 6.5)

The sounds of the TARDIS never tired the Doctor. He could listen to it forever. He hummed with her and stroke a soothing hand over the console before reaching over and flipping down a lever. The TARDIS had landed and the Doctor walked over to open the door. He picked up his jacket on the way, slipping his arm through one of sleeves.

"Come along P-.."

He stopped midsentence and stopped by the door. Right. No Ponds. Just me, he thought gloomily. He slipped his other arm through the jacket while walking out and closing the door carefully behind him.

As the Doctor stepped outside he took a deep breath. It was definitely the Earth, 21th century. He could smell gasoline, grass and there was a faint fragrance of mint as well, for some reason. The Doctor looked around. He was standing in a small, dark and dirty ally.

The TARDIS was parked behind him, blocking the way. Her bright blue colour was in a sharp contrast to his current surroundings. He looked at the walls and chuckled in amusement at the graffiti. Humans, with their odd habit of writing messages where no one would see them.  
In front of him was a street, though it seemed quite… quiet.  
  
Odd, the Doctor thought as he strolled out on the streets, looking around. Nothing special. No people screaming, aliens invading or anything else that normally happened with the Doctor around. He sniffed the air again. Yes, quite normal.

He looked up and squinted at the sky. The sun had gone down, but there was still light, and the temperature wasn't too low, so the Doctor sat the time to be around 8:31 PM, late summertime. Even stranger, than no chaos, was that there wasn't anybody on the street. At all. No dogs, nor children playing or anything.

The Timelord shrugged and continued down the calm streets until a certain sign caught his eye, the black letters spelling out:

"Blackheath hospital," he mumbled. Why would the TARDIS bring him here? He looked at the building. A large, cream-ish coloured house, probably four stores, a minor part attached, probably where the front hall was situated.

"Right,” he said to himself. “It's a hospital. As long as there aren't any cats running it, it should be safe."

The Doctor chuckled at his own joke and walked up the parking lane, towards the entrance.

Inside there was a small, white room with chairs up by the wall on the left, accompanied by coffee tables with magazines and a reception to the right. A girl was standing behind the desk, looking up from her shirt. She appeared to be adjusting something on it. She had short hair, to just above the shoulders, and was only a one or half an inch smaller than the Doctor. Upon hearing the doors open and close, she looked up and saw him. Her brown eyes widened and she gazed at him from his shoes to his abnormal hair and his crooked grin.

"Eh, yeah, what can I do for you?" she asked nervously. But the Doctor didn't take notice of her anxious expression.

"Could you please tell me where I am?" he replied, smiling friendly. He walked to the desk and placed his hands with a slap on it. Putting his weight on his hands, he leaning up against it and tipped slightly forward to skim over the counter.

"Sorry, what?" the girl said, leaning away from the Doctor.

"Where am I?" the Doctor repeated calmly. After giving the behinds of the counter a good one over, he leaned back again. The girl looked something between surprised and confused and on the verge of cracking up, because what kind of a question was that.

"Blackheath hospital,” she said. When he didn’t react, she continued. “Greenwich. London. On Earth… the Solar System. Ring any bells?" she answered with a slightly sarcastic tone.

"Yes, it does. In fact, I've been on Earth a couple of times," he said with a secret smile. He turned to look around in the hall, noticing again that it was completely empty. The girl just looked more confused.

"No kiddin'. Eh, you okay? A bit too much to drink?"

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you," The Doctor replied, taking notice of the stairs and the elevator.

"Who exactly are ya?" the girl asked following his line of view. The Doctor snapped his head to look at her.

"I'm the Doctor," he said earnestly.

"Doctor who?" she asked, getting curious.

"Just the Doctor."

"You don't have a name?" she continued.

Boy, does she ask a lot of questions, the Doctor thought.

"I'm looking for...” he started, but trailed off.

“Actually, I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for. Any strange patients lately, miss ..." He glanced at her tag. "Miss Kelly?"

At first she looked annoyed, probably because he ignored her question, but then she looked confused.

"What? Oh yeah, eh, lemme think. There's this one guy that's-" Kelly stopped, looking at the Doctor like she suddenly just realize he was standing there. "Why am I telling you this?" she asked hesitantly.

"Just trust me. I really am a Doctor."

Kelly still looked suspicious but continued.

"There was this guy we found in the park. One of those poor homeless fellows, yeah? Thought he was near death, just layin there, but suddenly realized he wasn't, cause he started movin and all and then brought him here and tried to figure out what was wrong with him."

The Doctor’s face fell into a more serious mine, and he pondered of what was particularly odd about that.

"Take me to him,” he said after a while

"Sure thing,  _Doc_ ,” she said sarcastically. “I’m sorry, but I can’t just take you to see patients like that. I need some sort of authorization, you know?”

Before she even finished the sentence, the Doctor had reached inside his jacket and flipped out the psychic paper.

“I think you’ll find all my authority here,” he said, throwing her a smile with it. Kelly scanned it and looked at the Doctor again. Then she smiled slightly and gave a sign to the Doctor so he should follow her. He turned the paper around to look at it briefly, before stuffing it into his jacket again.

Kelly went through the room and pressed the button for the elevator. The doors opened swiftly and they stepped inside. They were both standing in awkward silence as the silly elevator music began, and the Doctor noticed she was staring at him. The small metal room bounced as the wires began to pull it up.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking curiously at her. She blinked a few times and snapped out of her daze.

"It's just... I just don't get what's with the bowtie,” she said shyly, pointing at it.

"Oi," the doctor replied, fixing it. "Bowties are cool." He turned to look back at the door and started humming with the elevator music.

 


	2. The Patient

Kelly glanced towards the Doctor. He hummed something and tipped back and forth on his feet with the elevator.

He was really odd, like, extremely odd, like the “small-bells-are-ringing-in-my-head-something-is-off” odd. But he looked nice. You know, nice as in personality. Kind, or whatever… an understanding type. Not as in looks, nope. Besides, she already had a boy-... Well, ex-boyfriend. Who still came around, once in a while.

The Doctor shifted his weight to his other leg and huffed slightly. He turned to Kelly.

"What day is it today? There's absolutely no one around."

"It’s Friday. There's a night-shift coming any minute now."

"But this is a hospital,” he deadpanned.

"Nah, it's more like a medical centre," she said and smiled.

The elevator said ding, and Kelly and the Doctor went out on the hall. She started walking with long strides towards the patients' booth.

"Right, so this patient. Who is he? Or she. It?" the Doctor inquired.

"He is male,” Kelly said, faltering in her walk a bit. “Ehm, the receptionist found him in the park while she was out for her morning run, and took him in here. Been in a coma ever since."

"The receptionist?" the Doctor asked.

"The patient," Kelly answered, impatiently.

"Oh. Right.”

Kelly stopped, and turned to open a door into one of the rooms. The Doctor went directly past her to the bed and glanced at the patient. He then looked at all the monitors, and then suddenly he slammed (for a lack of better word) himself onto the floor. Kelly jumped and looked at him in shock.

"Eh, Sir... are you okay?"

She stayed where she was, thinking how she could've let this mad man into the building. Maybe he’d faked his papers or something. Something was definitely off about him that was for sure. As sudden as he had flung himself to the floor, his head bobbed up from behind the bed.

"Yes... sir? Do you call people sir; this is the 21st century, right?" he asked, looking as confused as she felt.

"Yeah..." she said, not really knowing where this was heading.

"Right."

The Doctor shuffled a bit back and forth, and at some point he sniffed to the patient. Then he took something new out of his jackets pocket (how much could fit in there?). It looked like an electric toothbrush, except it didn't have the brush-y part or any other part like a toothbrush actually. Okay, it didn’t really look like a toothbrush, but that was just what it was named in her head.

He flipped it in his hand and pushed something on it, and it started lighting green, accompanied by a strange sound. He let it glide past the monitors, which were all detecting a regular heartbeat. He then let it glide towards the patient, but at this, Kelly stepped in.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down there... what the hell is that thing, and why're you wavin it around over the patient," Kelly snapped.

The Doctor, who had been looking at his weird toothbrush, turned to look at her, his eyes wild.

"Get out,” he ordered.

"Sorry?" Kelly responded, offended by the thought that this guy thought he could just boss her around like that.

"Get out, get out, GET OUT!" he yelled, ushering Kelly and himself out of the room.

Outside of the room, he grabbed her arm, and pulled her with him down the hall. Kelly had no idea what was happening, but the next thing she knew she was running as fast as she could, holding tightly on the Doctor’s hand. The halls echoed of their feet ramming down on the floor.

"Keep running,” he insisted, not explaining why. But when they reached the elevator, she stopped, but the Doctor still pulled her along with him.

"No, too slow," he yelled, running towards an emergency door, ripping it open, and running down the stairs. She followed shortly.

They ran all the way down, skipping a few of the steps. Kelly may or may not have slipped a few times, and gripped on to the rails for dear life. It was a long way down, because they had been a long way up (the patient had been on the 4th floor).

She felt like her heart was going to stop, and her lungs were tightening and her sides burned, when suddenly the exit-door appeared front of her. The Doctor, who was faster than her, had already half opened it and had run through. She still didn't know  _why_ she was running from the patient; but something had just told her to follow the Doctor. It just seemed like the right thing to do, you know?

Finally outside, on the other side of the road, she felt that she could stop. Kelly gasped for air, not realizing that she had just sprinted down four staircases and several meters of halls. Her PE teacher must've been so proud of her.

"What..." she gasped, "... the hell..." she let out a breath, "... was that..." she gasped again, "... for... "

He was also gasping, though not as loudly and noticeable as her. He looked around on the streets.

"Nothing. I just wanted to know if you'd trust everything I'd say... okay, back to the patient... "

She stopped gasping, and looked abruptly at him.

"What?"

The Doctor waved his hand nonchalantly around.

"Yeah, you know, most people say they trust me, but put in a dangerous position, most humans will do the stupid thing and not listen to what I say,” he rambled, because what the hell, most _humans_?

"You wanted me... to prove myself... to you... " she gasped.

He nodded, checking his mechanical thing again, flipping it out and reading something off it. Kelly smacked his arm and he looked stunned at her.

"Why'd you need to do that, in an hour the whole shift will flood into the medical centre,” Kelly fumed, getting annoyed at him. “Sorry,” she added, gesturing to his arm.

The man walked around on the stop, rubbing his neck distressed.

"No... no. That simply won't do, you'll have to stop them, tell them to stay away,” he insisted.

"I can't tell the doctors to stay away from their patients... you should know that, Doctor,” Kelly said with a slightly bitter tone.

He ignored the last bit.

"I need time, Miss Kelly, I need time to fix this,” he stressed.

" _Fix what_! In a little time, a whole _team_ of doctors will arrive, and then they'll take care of him,” she exclaimed, waving her hand towards the hospital.

"Are you sure about that?" he said, and went towards the centre again.

She followed him, thinking again about how the hell this guy was and how weird her normal afternoon had become in just a few minutes.

"We need to find the receptionist."

 


	3. The Receptionist

Kelly suddenly froze. The Doctor didn't take notice of this, since he had his back to her and he kept blabbing on.

"We need her to tell us exactly where she found the creature... or man... or, whatever he is. Do you know her?" he inquired, turning to look at her. As she was about to reply, the Doctor cut her off again with anther ramble.

"Are you close with her? Do you have her phone number perhaps? Know any of her relatives? Where she lives... Is she even a she? When does she work? Does she live nearby? I need to know these things!" he practically yelled, throwing his hands in the air and started walking down the road.

"Doctor. There's something I haven't told you..." she mumbled.

The Doctor stopped his tantrum and turned around on his heels. He walked up to her in three short strides.

"What? Is she a he?"

* * *

Nicole was seriously having an off day.

Firstly, Erron had come over. Secondly, he wasn't there when she woke up again, not that she was expecting it anyway. He probably had more important stuff to do than hang around her apartment (cough).

Why was it that her bad mornings often started with Erron not being there?

Thirdly, the bus was stuck in traffic, because God knows why, this was England after all – anyways, she was late for work, and had to endure her boss bitching about it. On and on the man went, getting all red in his face. Nicole wondered if she should be worried about the large vein that popped out in his forehead.

And lastly she was now stuck inside her little reception all day, with that harlot walking around, with her platinum blonde hair, pearly-white teeth (as if she had never had a coffee!) and her over-sized… well, you might imagine a picture of her.

Miss Kelly Hanson.

The nice nurse, who kept running after the doctors and being 'oh-so-nice' with her high-pitched voice and loose hands. She might smack a person in the face one day, the way her hands flipped around when she talked. Nicole hoped she might smack herself.

Nicole bet she had at least shagged three of the doctors, maybe two at the same time, even though she had a steady one too… But that wasn’t any of Nicoles business, it was just an observation. Or something.

Anyway, she had battled through the day, like any other day, resisting the urge to smack some sense into Kelly herself. _No_ , that’s not a “large pointy thing” it’s a syringe, dear lord, how on earth did you get through nurse school.

Just as she was about to pack up her stuff, Miss “Handsome” was making her way towards Nicole's desk. She smiled sweetly, and Nicole thought her own teeth might rot soon, and threw a pile of white clothes onto the desk.

"By the way, my uniform (screw your uniform, Nicole thought) needs to be cleaned for tomorrow. Thanks sugar," she sang, and flipped her hair. Nicole made a face as Kelly turned around and strutted out the door.

And with that her day was officially ruined. With stamps and official papers and everything. Written across her face: “not my day” with large letters. Might as well add Daniel Powter dancing behind her, just to top it off.

I mean, yeah, I'm a secretary, not your bloody servant, she thought.

She huffed, and glanced down at the pile of clothes.

There wasn't even a single spot on them.

Nicole wanted to scream.

But she went down to clean them anyways. She sat in front of the dryer and watched the clothes go round and round and dry out with the last shreds of her dignity. She started thinking how nice it’d be if she’d gotten the job as nurse. Like she really intended – helping people.

No one was even around. It was Friday, everybody had gone home, until the shift in a few hours.

Nicole had always wanted to be a nurse. Well, she got the idea this last half year, but still. The uniform might even fit… It wasn't illegal or something like that, it was just trying someone else’s clothes.

And that was how Nicole ended behind the same old desk but with a new uniform.

* * *

"My name's not really Kelly."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was an extremely short chapter we are very sorry


	4. Of Trashcans and Spaceships

There was a long pause, before the Doctor broke the silence.

"Aha. I see." The Doctor looked perplexed. "So. What  _is_  your name?"

"Nicole James."

The Doctor took this in and looked at her again from top to toe. Then he shrugged.

"You never really looked like Kelly anyways," he said, smiling slightly.

Now it was Nicole's turn to look surprised.

"You believe me, just like tha'? I mean, I lied to you about my name. Why should you trust me now?"

The Doctor cracked a goofy grin.

"Why shouldn't I believe you?" Pause. "So, you're the receptionist?"

"Yes."

"Are you lying now?"

"No!"

"Okay. So where did you find him?"

Nicole looked at the Doctor, amazed by his smoothness. He trusted her. And she found that, shockingly enough, she trusted him as well.  
But she was probably going bonkers anyway. Maybe this was all a dream. A very strange one, because Nicole could swear she wasn't asleep.

"Over by the park, it's not far from here."

He nodded. She started to walk along the road. The evening was starting to get cool, but Nicole still had the warmth from the trip down the stairs.

"Ain't this a bit weird? No, wait, let me rephrase that. Aren't  _you_  a tad weird?"

The Doctor merely chuckled as a reply.

"Oh, so you're cryptic as well. And what's with the lightin' toothbrush?"

The Doctor looked surprised. So it does look like a toothbrush.

"It's sonic. It's a sonic screwdriver."

Nicole gaped at him. He couldn't be serious. A sonic screwdriver. What on earth had gadgets come to these days? A small giggle escaped her lips. The Doctor looked at her.

"Who'd invent that?"

The Doctor paused. "Me?"

Nicole giggled again. "Well, you do seem like the type of person who would do that."

"Really? What makes you think that?"

"Hmm.. The bowtie?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes but kept walking, Nicole following. They walked silently to the park, Nicole stealing glances at him all the time, still trying to wrap her head around what's happening.

* * *

"So, where did you find the man?" The Doctor asked.

"Eh, somewhere around there," she said, pointing to a small area with trees. They continued walking to the area.

"This is it," Nicole said, as they approached the spot, where she'd found the man.

The Doctor looked around. There wasn't much around there; a bench, grass, some bushes, and other stuff that seemed normal in a park.

The Doctor took out his sonic ( _toothbrush)_ screwdriver and flicked it so it opened up. He looked into the bushed, searching for something, analyzing with his screwdriver. Nicole looked as the green light lit up the bushed.

"So what are looking for Doc?"

"Don't call me that," the Doctor mumbled, silent enough for her not to hear it. He walked into the bushes disappearing from Nicole's sight.

"Doctor?" She could hear a slight rattling between the bushes. She looked around. The park was completely empty except for them. Suddenly she heard a loud beeping.

"Found it!" the Doctor exclaimed, jumping up from the bushes.

"What did you find?" Nicole asked, getting curious about this strange adventure.

"A spaceship."

Nicole followed him into the bushes, wondering what she would see in there. She was prepared for elaborate UFO's, shrunk to the size of a hand, but when she finally found her way to where the Doctor was, she saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"So... where is this spaceship?" she asked the Doctor. He, in turn, did not look at her. He was busy examining a trashcan with his gadget.

"It's right here." he told her without looking up. If he had done that, he would have seen Nicole's face all scrunched up in wonder and surprise and a little disappointed.

"Are you serious?"

"No. Actually it's a space  _capsule._ "

"Oh... of course. Yeah, that makes sense. Except that that is a bloody  _trashcan_!"

"Long story short: It's a trashcan AND a space capsule."

"So... some persons sent a trashcan into space, and thereby made it a space capsule."

He rose from beside the trashcan, sorry, the thing from space (whatever it was), where he had been sitting down. "We need to get this back to the hospital."

* * *

"This... is... so... stupid..." Nicole huffed, as they carried the trashcan back to the medical centre. "Why are we bringing this back?" she asked, getting more annoyed with every second.

"You'll understand in a minute," he said.

They went down a short-cut, finding the easiest way to the medical centre.

"Isn't this a bit suspicious," Nicole suddenly asked. "Walking down the street with a trashcan?"

"No," The Doctor answered.

"What? How is th-... oh, never mind." She dropped the subject. She had already learned that it was probably best not to argue with The Doctor, strange as he may be.

"Right..." Nicole said, dropping the trashcan in front of the medical centre. "So, here we are. Care to enlighten me, Doc?"

He ignored her, as he began looking at the trashcan in an odd manner. Or, rather, looking  _in_  the trashcan. Actually, it looked like he was disappearing into the trashcan. Frankly, it was a quite disturbing sight.

"What are you doing now?" she asked, curious all of the sudden.

"I'm looking for the button. It should be in here."

"What button?"

"THE button." The Doctor emerged from the trashcan, looking all excited and smiling. "Aha! This button," he smiled, pressing what Nicole assumed was it.

Nicole stood amazed, as the former trashcan transformed in front of her eyes. It was as if someone had glided hula hoops over it, creating a field that bit by bit changed the exterior – and probably the interior as well – of the trashcan. Where there before had been a small sign that read "Only paper", was now a little window. There was no top, which made Nicole wonder how you closed it.

"So," she began. "You weren't kidding when you said space capsule."

* * *

'The elevator said ding, and the Doctor and Nicole stepped out.

"So, I'm almost getting the space capsule thing," Nicole started, as they walked through the first door. "But how is it connected? I mean, it could all be just a big coincidence."

"Nothing is a coincidence," was the Doctors answer. So Nicole stopped talking, and began thinking. They walked through another door, and another one, until they eventually reached the patients room.

The Doctor was the first to speak:

"But what is he? Why is he here? What is his purpose?"

He bend down beside the beds side. He whipped out his screwdriver, flipped a switch and it started lighting green, and he traced it up and down the patient once more. While this happened, Nicole looked over the paitents clipboard, like she wanted to memorize it, wanting to stop feeling so useless.

She was deep in thought as a noise pulled her from her trance-like state, but she didn't look up. She didn't think it was important. Anyway, it was too faint to make out what it was.

The Doctor looked up at Nicole.

"Right," he muttered. "He's in a coma."

Nicole looked up from her clipboard, looking at the Doctor. Hadn't he figured that one out yet?

"Yes, we haven't been able to wake him."

The Doctor flicked his eyes towards the man in the bed. "So why did he just grab my arm?"

Nicole now looked at the man. His arm was stretched out towards the Doctors. His lips were moving, very faintly, but they were moving. It was as if he was whispering something, but she couldn't make out the words. She looked closely, and tried to copy his lips movements. Then she realized what the man was saying.

"Doctor..." the man muttered. "... Doctor..."

"He's not supposed to do that, he's in a coma!" Nicole exclaimed.

"Well, I kind of figured that out of my own." The Doctor answered, making no move to get away. He crouched down to look at the man's hand.

"Don't just sit there; get away! You don't know what he'll do!"

The Doctor ignored her and reached his free hand towards his capturer's hand, examining it closely. It looked like any other human hand, five fingers, hair and nails. But the Doctor knew better. He fished around after his screwdriver, tracing it over the hand, a small beeping occurring. After that little inspection, he began prying the fingers from grasping at his own arm.

He looked up at Nicole.

"Right. So, have we got any information about this man?"

"Right," Nicole said, looking at his clipboard again. She sighed. "The thing is we don't really know much about him."

She looked down at the piece of paper again.

"All it says is that he was brought in with no ID or anything, we don't know family relations." She looked at the Doctor. "Basically, all we know is that he got worse when they gave him a turn inside the MRI."

"The MRI?"

"Yeah, you know: That magnetic scan thing."

"Yes, I know what a MRI is."

"Good, if not, what kind of doctor would you be." She smirked at him.

The Doctor took his screwdriver and pushed a button. It flashed green and made a strange noise, as he traced it over the coma patient's body.

"I knew it."

"What?"

"He's got a chip inside his arm," The Doctor explained, reading something off his screwdriver.

"What?" Nicole questioned. "Like the ones owners have put into their dog?"

"No, no, not like that. It's like a categorizing number. I think that he actually was born with it."

"So, he's a robot?"

"Well, no, he's flesh and blood. This chip allows him to disguise himself. Chamealeon circuit."

"A what?"

"His body is programmed to change to its surroundings. It scans the environment and determines which disguise would be most suitable."

"So, basically, he can change appearance after the environment. Just like a chameleon."

"Yes."

"Well, why didn't you just say that? Much easier." Nicole said, and the Doctor looked at the patient. She walked a little closer, so close that she now stood at the end of his bed.

"So... he doesn't actually look like that?" she asked. The Doctor nodded, whilst looking his sonic screwdriver for the readings.

"What do we do now?" she asked, looking at the man in the hospital bed.

The man that wasn't actually a man.

The Doctor followed her gaze, contemplating the options. Finally deciding, he spoke out loud:

" _I'm going to wake him up."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, cliff-hangers!
> 
> And you know, it's still possible to write your opinion about the story! What do you think will happen?


	5. They Are Coming

“Wake him? But Doctor, how on Earth will you do that?” Nicole asked, perplexed.

The Doctor flicked his sonic screwdriver so that it buzzed slightly and ran it over the patient again. He seemed to concentrate a lot. Nicole could count the furrows in his forehead. The Doctor put the screwdriver in his pocket again. He held the patients head gentle with his fingers and closed his eyes

Nicole sensed that she probably shouldn't ask what he was doing. The Doctor was such a strange person, she thought. Running around and doing strange things. 

He slowly opened his eyes again, removing his fingers from the man’s temple.

“So, what good did that do?” she said.

Suddenly, the man’s eyes sprang open. Nicole jumped in surprise and grabbed the Doctors arm. 

“Oh my god!” she exclaimed. “How’d ya do that?”

“Telepathic mind,” he answered. “I’m very good at that.”

Nicole still had no idea what he did, but the man was moving. Hallelujah. 

They looked at the patient, who started to look panicked. He grabbed the Doctors other arm and pulled him close, the Doctor pulling Nicole with him.

“They’re coming,” the man whispered. “They’re coming after me!”

“Who’s coming?” the Doctor asked, searching in the man’s eyes.

The man’s eyes went around the room, like he was searching for someone else in there.

“The … The Jixen…”

“The Jixen?” the Doctor repeated. “Who’re they? Why are they coming after you?”

“I… I don’t know… They wanted to take… Take something from me…” the patient stuttered. He fell silent but his eyes continued turning around wildly in his head. He looked troubled.

Nicole looked at the Doctor like he was insane. 

“What’re you saying?” she asked. 

The Doctor mentally slapped himself. 

Nicole wasn't able to hear the patients and the Doctor’s conversation, because they were talking the patient’s native language. It probably seemed like he was insane.

“It just sounds like you’re speaking some weird mixture of Spanish and Chinese,” she said, looking a bit amused now. “Is it an alien language?”

The Doctor nodded.

“Eh, yes.”

“You speak alien languages…” she trailed off. “That’s … fantastic.”

The Doctor grinned.

“And a bit disturbing. So, eh, can you ask him a question for me?”

“Sure,” the Doctor replied.

“Ask him what his name is,” Nicole said. The Doctor looked surprised at her. He then turned to the patient.

“What’s your name?”

“C-czhant,” the man whispered. “Please, Doctor… Please help me.”

The Doctor looked skeptical at him.

“How do you know my name?”

A small smile appeared on the man’s face, like he was amused by a child’s ignorance.

“The trees and the stars and the waters speak of you. Your name is written across the galaxies.”

Nicole stole a glance at the Doctor, who had a big frown on his face.

“What’d he say?” she asked, a bit worried.

For the 117th time today, the Doctor ignored her.

He wasn't happy with that mystical answer, but so far it’ll do. The Doctor went the man’s name through his head. Czhant. He repeated the name in his head. Not any relatives to humans then, they always have some sort of last name, a title. Perhaps the patients name was a title. A … singer? Who chants? A priest? Maybe he could connect the chip. Darn it, who was it that had chips in them again? Mhmm, fish and chips. No, not now Doctor!   
Why would someone be after him? Who was “The Jixen”? They … A group? A code name for a gang of space pirates?

“Doctor, what was his name?”

The Doctor snapped out of his thoughts.

“Eh, Czhant,” he answered, a bit fazed. How long had he stared out into the thin air?

She looked confused by his answer.

“What sorta name’s that?” 

“An alien name,” the Doctor replied bluntly. Nicole rolled her eyes.

“No shit Sherlock,” she muttered.

Suddenly Czhant grabbed onto Nicole’s arm. She jumped again. It was amazing how hard the man could hold on!

“Save me,” he wheezed. His eyes closed again. The Doctor looked frantically at him.

“No, no! Wait!” He gently shook the man. “Czhant? Czhant, can you hear me? … Urgh, we lost him!”

“Is he dead?” Nicole worriedly asked.

“No, he’s just slipped back into the coma. I didn't ask him what race he was!” The Doctor sighed. He looked slightly annoyed now.

“Oh. Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. Why are you apologizing?”

Nicole looked surprised at herself and then shrugged.

“Wait a minute… Yes! Will that… Perhaps. Quite possibly. Maybe… Yes! No. Wait. Of course!” The Doctor suddenly jumped up. Nicole jumped up too, just because his excitement rubbed off on her.

“What is it Doctor?” she asked, a bit too loud. 

“ I've got a plan, you wait here!” he yelled, bouncing off towards the elevator. “Keep an eye on Czhant!”

She stared at him as he ran. 

“Oh. Alrighty then. Keeping an eye on an alien. Nothing else I’d do on a quiet Friday night…”

She sat down on the chair next to the bed. She looked at the man, and then looked at the way the Doctor had disappeared.

“What a strange day,” she mused

 

The Doctor ran to the elevator and almost slammed himself on the button. The door opened immediately. He ran inside and pressed the button to the highest level. The elevator started to move. Lounge music started to play. The Doctor sighed. He hated lounge music. The elevator seemed to go even slower. 

The Doctor flicked out his screwdriver and ran it over the buttons. Suddenly the elevator accelerated and he stumbled a step backwards from the sudden speed. The elevator jumped again when he reached his destination and the doors opened with a pling. 

He ran out of the doors and followed the signs that said Roof. He came to a small trapdoor, which he quickly unlocked with his screwdriver. He jumped up and looked around on the top of the roof.

It’s actually quite high up, he thought. You could see the park from here. He then looked around again of the roof until he found what he needed – a dish. He ran over to it and started running his sonic screwdriver across it. He then turned it around and fumbled with the wires.

“If someone is searching for him, they would send out signals, ‘cause he’s got that chip, but maybe they don’t know he’s got one, but it’s defiantly more likely if they've been looking for him for a long time…” he trailed off, mumbling for himself. He scanned it again, and read off the screwdriver. 

“But… If they know he’s got one… Maybe they put it there… Why would they…?” 

His eyes widened as he read the readings. 

“Oh no. But that means…”

He jumped up, a wild look in his eyes, his hair flailing all over the place.

“Nicole!”


End file.
